A Study on Improving Economy Efficiency of Pumping Stations Based on Tariff Changes

In this paper, research on improving the economic efficiency of 38 drainage pumping stations was undertaken. Particular attention was paid to the effectiveness of activities without considering any expenditures. Energy costs for this type of machine are usually high, approximately 45% of the total m...

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Main Author: Michał Napierała
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-01-01
Series:Energies
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/3/799
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author Michał Napierała
author_facet Michał Napierała
author_sort Michał Napierała
collection DOAJ
description In this paper, research on improving the economic efficiency of 38 drainage pumping stations was undertaken. Particular attention was paid to the effectiveness of activities without considering any expenditures. Energy costs for this type of machine are usually high, approximately 45% of the total maintenance cost. The main assumption of this work was the selection of appropriate energy tariffs to reduce operating costs. Liquid transport in any economy consumes significant amounts of electricity, estimated at 20–30% of the total electricity production. The optimization of the energy consumption of pumping processes is, therefore, very important. While analyzing the choice of energy tariffs, we designed profitability ratios (PR) specifically for different daily time zones. With the forecasted distribution of energy demands for different daily time zones (usually 2 or 3 zones), it was possible to compare multi-zone tariffs with 24 h tariffs. The profitability of the tariffs was decided by the value of the PR indicator. The lower, the better. In practice, this meant that the analyzed multi-zone tariffs, in most cases, are more profitable compared to single-zone tariffs. In the Polish energy system, each entrepreneur, depending on the connection power, has a right to choose a particular energy tariff from three tariff groups, i.e., high (A), medium (B), and low (C) voltage. In the case of land reclamation pumping stations, energy tariffs are usually from groups B and C. The choice of tariffs largely depends on the contracted capacity and is determined by tariff regulation. Nowadays, the current energy system forces entrepreneurs to declare a connected power load at the level corresponding to the maximum use of the production potential. Lack of knowledge of the hydrological regime, quite common for land reclamation pumping stations, usually results in overestimating the contracted capacity. When comparing the effect of changing tariffs, it was found that the profitability of this method is significant. The four-year study period (2010–2013) showed that active energy in the multi-part tariffs of groups B and C is on average 10.2% cheaper than in the single-part tariffs and varies in a wide range from 2% to 20.4%. The analysis carried out on 38 drainage pumping stations shows that for only five pumping stations could changing the current tariff be unjustified. In the other cases, the four years of analysis demonstrates that changing the current energy tariff could reduce electricity costs by approximately 5%., i.e., approximately PLN 124,000 per year (approximately EUR 27,000).
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spelling doaj.art-d0281f4b9e7145b388223b0cc8ff6c2f2023-11-23T16:20:05ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732022-01-0115379910.3390/en15030799A Study on Improving Economy Efficiency of Pumping Stations Based on Tariff ChangesMichał Napierała0Department of Land Improvement, Environmental Development and Spatial Management, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Piątkowska 94E, 60-649 Poznań, PolandIn this paper, research on improving the economic efficiency of 38 drainage pumping stations was undertaken. Particular attention was paid to the effectiveness of activities without considering any expenditures. Energy costs for this type of machine are usually high, approximately 45% of the total maintenance cost. The main assumption of this work was the selection of appropriate energy tariffs to reduce operating costs. Liquid transport in any economy consumes significant amounts of electricity, estimated at 20–30% of the total electricity production. The optimization of the energy consumption of pumping processes is, therefore, very important. While analyzing the choice of energy tariffs, we designed profitability ratios (PR) specifically for different daily time zones. With the forecasted distribution of energy demands for different daily time zones (usually 2 or 3 zones), it was possible to compare multi-zone tariffs with 24 h tariffs. The profitability of the tariffs was decided by the value of the PR indicator. The lower, the better. In practice, this meant that the analyzed multi-zone tariffs, in most cases, are more profitable compared to single-zone tariffs. In the Polish energy system, each entrepreneur, depending on the connection power, has a right to choose a particular energy tariff from three tariff groups, i.e., high (A), medium (B), and low (C) voltage. In the case of land reclamation pumping stations, energy tariffs are usually from groups B and C. The choice of tariffs largely depends on the contracted capacity and is determined by tariff regulation. Nowadays, the current energy system forces entrepreneurs to declare a connected power load at the level corresponding to the maximum use of the production potential. Lack of knowledge of the hydrological regime, quite common for land reclamation pumping stations, usually results in overestimating the contracted capacity. When comparing the effect of changing tariffs, it was found that the profitability of this method is significant. The four-year study period (2010–2013) showed that active energy in the multi-part tariffs of groups B and C is on average 10.2% cheaper than in the single-part tariffs and varies in a wide range from 2% to 20.4%. The analysis carried out on 38 drainage pumping stations shows that for only five pumping stations could changing the current tariff be unjustified. In the other cases, the four years of analysis demonstrates that changing the current energy tariff could reduce electricity costs by approximately 5%., i.e., approximately PLN 124,000 per year (approximately EUR 27,000).https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/3/799pumping stationsenergy tariffeconomic efficiency
spellingShingle Michał Napierała
A Study on Improving Economy Efficiency of Pumping Stations Based on Tariff Changes
Energies
pumping stations
energy tariff
economic efficiency
title A Study on Improving Economy Efficiency of Pumping Stations Based on Tariff Changes
title_full A Study on Improving Economy Efficiency of Pumping Stations Based on Tariff Changes
title_fullStr A Study on Improving Economy Efficiency of Pumping Stations Based on Tariff Changes
title_full_unstemmed A Study on Improving Economy Efficiency of Pumping Stations Based on Tariff Changes
title_short A Study on Improving Economy Efficiency of Pumping Stations Based on Tariff Changes
title_sort study on improving economy efficiency of pumping stations based on tariff changes
topic pumping stations
energy tariff
economic efficiency
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/3/799
work_keys_str_mv AT michałnapierała astudyonimprovingeconomyefficiencyofpumpingstationsbasedontariffchanges
AT michałnapierała studyonimprovingeconomyefficiencyofpumpingstationsbasedontariffchanges